Where do you stand?

Should businesses start taking driverless cars seriously?

"Now another revolution on wheels is on the horizon: the driverless car. Nobody is sure when it will arrive. Google, which is testing a fleet of autonomous cars, thinks in maybe a decade, others reckon longer. A report from KPMG and the Centre for Automotive Research in Michigan concludes that it will come “sooner than you think”. And, when it does, the self-driving car, like the ordinary kind, could bring profound change," writes Schumpeter in his latest column. Businesses that stand to gain and lose from the driverless car, he argues, should take driverless cars seriously and plan for a future in which they are widespread. Do you agree?

In the US, astronomical insurance premiums create little to no incentive to those interested in being the first to enter the market with this innovation. In addition, the business' reputation is vulnerable to nonsensical media/worker rants on substitution of jobs. We are faced with another scenario where the markets, regulations, and public sentiment in foreign markets grant them a superior capacity for innovation.